Reviewed by Jeanne
Decorative blacksmith Meg Lanslow’s Christmas plans have had a
bit of a twist—Meg’s ankle, to be specific.
She sent husband Michael and the boys off to their planned ski vacation
before the holidays, leaving Meg to rest up.
(Insert laughter here.) Meg is one of those ultra-organized people who
has pages of “to-do” lists and makes sure every event runs smoothly—or as
smoothly as it can, given the eccentric nature of their extended family.
Take this Christmas, for example. Even before all the family arrives, Meg
discovers there are wombats in the basement, an experiment being conducted by her
zoologist grandfather and her nephew to document their biofluorescence. Yep,
apparently they glow in the dark.
And that’s not the least of it. Meg has an irritable and demanding artist in
residence who is painting jays and mockingbirds for a book and who has allowed
the birds to escape into the house where they seem to view people as delightful
targets, moving statues if you will.
Fortunately, Meg has laid in a supply of hats for people to wear.
With the artists’ ex-wives staking out the house, a reporter
trying to get a scoop, Meg’s brother and his fiancée trying to have a low key
wedding at New Year’s and Meg’s mother plotting an extravaganza, a murder seems
almost incidental.
While this may seem over the top and overwhelming, Donna
Andrews juggles all the plot elements with the ease and assuredness of a master
performer. There are plenty of laugh out
loud moments, but she never loses sight of the serious aspects of the story.
She also handles all the characters with ease, so even if this is your first
Meg Lanslow mystery you won’t have trouble keeping up. I had read and enjoyed the first two or three
a couple of years back, but had no problem even though there are a lot of new
to me characters. Most of all, Meg
herself is a wonderful character. I love
that she’s not a wishy-washy heroine who gets bullied into doing things. When her family tries to take advantage, she
pushes back and offers other solutions. Most
of all I love that there is a warmth and love to the stories even under trying
circumstances.
If you’re looking for a light book to make the holidays
bright, pick up one of the yearly Christmas themed books in the series. I’m
very glad I did!
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